Welcome to the April 2021 issue of The Daily Meditator. This is your monthly resource for fun, quirky, interesting, and noteworthy happenings in and around the worldwide meditation community, curated by Light Watkins and co. Our mission is simple: to help broaden the horizon of what a daily meditator looks like while providing you with relevant information and timely inspiration for staying committed to your daily practice (even during a pandemic).
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[ MEDITATION & NEWS ]
Wait, Meditation Is Banned in Alabama Schools?
Can’t we just let the kids meditate? We just found out that due to a fear of spreading Hinduism to children, Christian Conservative groups like the Eagle Forum of Alabama have fought for 28 years to keep activities that promote Eastern spirituality, including “guided imagery, meditation or yoga” banned in Alabama schools.
A bill that would end the 28-year ban and allow students and teachers to enjoy the various mental, emotional, and physical benefits of meditation and yoga, failed in committee on the last day of March due to a tie vote.
Bottom line: We know, but just breathe … and stay tuned! The bill to end the ban is approved to come up for a vote again, so hopefully they’ll see the light.
[ MEDITATION & TECHNOLOGY ]
It’s Mindfulness Month at Mashable!
Really, all alliteration aside: Mashable has rounded up a whole month’s worth of awesome articles on mindfulness and technology. Here are some highlights:
To App or Not to App? Buddhists offer their own form of online meditation — and it's nothing like the apps
Is #Mindfulness fake or even dangerous? Instagram's 'Hashtag Mindfulness' boom: The good, the bad, and the ugly
Meditation for ADHD: Why ADHD and mindfulness make for unexpected but perfect bedfellows
Bottom line: Wholefoods and Headspace partnering on Food for Mood IGTV gets honorable mention, but Mashable’s recent dedication to the topic has been the highlight of this month’s meditation and tech news.
[ MEDITATION & LIFESTYLE ]
BSDM Meditation? Apparently, It’s a Thing
Meditators are trading in their mala beads for bondage ropes and nipple clamps?According to The Science of BDSM research group at Northern Illinois University, those who engage in BDSM can experience states of consciousness similar to those of many longtime, spirituality-based meditators. While at first glance, the two practices seem completely opposite—one is de-exciting the mind while the other is exciting the body to an extreme—they both can enable you to let go of who you are and just exist in the present moment.
Mindfulness meditation in particular is about the ability to sustain or shift attention and witness sensations, even pain. And who knows better how to turn pain into a pleasurable experience than BDSM practitioners? In fact, another study from the University of British Columbia found that BDSM actually helps foster mindfulness.
Bottom line: Inner peace and spiritual fulfillment can be found anywhere, even a BDSM dungeon, so who are we to judge?
[ MEDITATION & POP CULTURE ]
Black Musicians Are Reinventing Music for Meditation
You can finally retire your panflute mixes and sounds of ocean waves. Black musicians are creating and curating soundtracks for some of today’s most popular meditation apps and, in the process, redefining meditative music. From Madlib’s playlist for Headspace to Toro Y Moi’s “ambient record,” Inclusion on Calm, Black artists are pushing far beyond the typical New Age sounds into completely new territory for this genre.
Other artists include ambient music pioneer Larraji, and singer-songwriter Moses Sumney on Calm and R+B and synthpop singer-song writer Aluna Francis and R&B violinist Sudan Archives on Headspace. And with John Legend as Headspace’s first ever Chief Music Officer, the trend is sure to continue.
Bottom line: By breaking the boundaries of meditative music, Black artists are making meditation itself more relatable to people who may never have considered it for themselves before.
[ REALITY CHECK ]
Are Guided Meditations Helping or Harming Your Practice?
It may be time to march to the beat of your own steel tongue drum. Guided meditations are great training wheels to build a regular practice, according to meditation teacher Nickolas Grabovac. But relying on them too heavily could lead to weak engagement.
Building the skill of independent meditation frees you from reliance on screens, pods, and apps and lets you practice whenever and wherever you like. Listening to the other person’s voice might actually take you away from hearing the insights from the voice of your own intuition, whose primary whispers occur in silence.
Bottom line: Meditation is harder without a guide, no question. But it is worth it. Start simple with techniques like five-finger breathing or repeating a mantra to step up your inner work.
[ READ. WATCH. LISTEN. ]
Read: Brightly’s List of Young Reader Mindfulness Books
Brightly has put together a list of the top books introducing kids to meditation and mindfulness concepts and techniques. Including acclaimed children’s authors like Tomie DePaola and Eric Carle, the list is a great jumping off point for parents looking to help their kids foster deeper focus, awareness, and calm.
Watch: Waffles and Mochi
Waffles and Mochi is about two puppets (a waffle-creature and personified mochi ice cream), working in Michelle Obama’s food market. They go on adventures to discover how food gets from seed to plate and how it all combines in the joyful process of cooking. It gets kids (and adults honestly) excited about food and teaches them how it’s production and consumption brings people together.
Listen: Mind and Life Podcast
Hosted by Mind and Life Institute’s Science Director, Wendy Hasenkamp, this podcast explores the frontiers of contemplative science, bridging science and wisdom. Episodes range from conservations on psychology, philosophy, neuroscience, and anthropology, to religion, social science, and activism. The first episode is with the Dalai Lama’s English translator and features insights on language, service, and human purpose
[ REPORT FROM THE FIELD ]
Meditation allows me to establish a greater sense of calm in my daily life.
What have you gotten from meditation? I practice more of a prayer type of meditation these days. And it gives me the ability to hear myself more clearly and get more connected to my own spiritual voice, and it allows me to establish a greater sense of calm in my daily life.
Strangest meditation moment? In my meditation, I got an intuitive hit about a friend of mine, and she kept coming up during my meditation. And then she called in the middle of meditation and needed something.
Most unexpected benefit from meditation? I always knew meditation would make you calm, but I didn’t realize that it was a way to activate creativity. And what I discovered was, if I had a creative block, and I meditated, new ideas would come to me.
[ WHO TO FOLLOW ]
Two of Our Favorite Instagram Accounts with a Purpose
Dr. Rangan Chatterjee (left) is a writer and podcaster who advocates for health made simple. An influential general practitioner in the UK, Dr. Chatterjee aims to inspire, empower and transform the way people feel. He believes that when we are healthier we are happier because when we feel better we live more.
Rosie Acosta (right) is committed to teaching and practicing and being guided by radical love every day, and connecting to that through yoga, diet, affirmation, self-inquiry, and curiosity. In helping others find their unique gifts and fire within, she aims to create practices and connect with people in a way that will help everyone live radically loved lives together. She’s got a badass podcast too.
Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.
— Dalai Lama
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